Two Georgia Election Workers File Defamation Lawsuit Against OAN, Rudy Giuliani
Two Georgia election workers, Ruby Freeman and Wandrea "Shaye" Moss, filed a defamation lawsuit Thursday against One America News Network and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, saying they were defamed by false claims that they committed ballot fraud in connection to the 2020 election.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., says One America News Network, a right-wing cable news channel, accused Freeman and Moss, both Fulton County, Georgia, election workers, of ballot fraud even after election officials proved that the allegations were wrong. Giuliani, a lawyer for former President Donald Trump, went on the channel frequently and also "continued to publish and amplify the lie," according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit says Freeman and Moss, who are also mother and daughter, experienced "an immediate onslaught of violent and racist threats and harassment" caused by the false claims and are "afraid to live normal lives." The lawsuit seeks punitive damages and a court order mandating the removal of false statements regarding Freeman and Moss from websites and media channels.
This is the second lawsuit Freeman and Moss have filed this month alleging false accusations of ballot fraud. The two filed a lawsuit against The Gateway Pundit, a conservative website, on December 2. Freeman and Moss said the website published stories with their names when claiming Republicans watching were requested to leave on election night so workers could count fraudulent ballots hidden elsewhere.
That lawsuit said identifying the two in articles alleging ballot fraud led to harassment and threats.
An email to One America News Network and a member of the family that started it was not immediately returned. Messages at a phone number and email addresses associated with Giuliani were also not immediately returned.
Angered by his narrow loss in a traditionally Republican state, former President Donald Trump focused intense scrutiny on Georgia, making unproven claims that widespread fraud led to Joe Biden's victory in the state.
In a phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on January 2, Trump pressed the Republican official to "find" votes for him and mentioned Freeman by name, calling her "a vote scammer, a professional vote scammer and hustler."
Freeman worked as a temporary election worker during the 2020 election, verifying signatures on absentee ballots and preparing them to be counted and processed. Moss has worked for the Fulton County elections department since 2012 and supervised the absentee ballot operation during last year's election.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
